#cambodian rock band

[popblank]

Cambodian Rock Band By Lauren Yee Directed by Chay Yew Presented at the David Henry Hwang Theater February 13, 2025 - March 9, 2025 Opening Night February 16, 2025 Kicking off the season in February 2025, EWP will present the Los Angeles premiere of Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, featuring music from Dengue Fever—the LA band that inspired the play after Yee attended one of their Long Beach concerts.

[theseancekid]

not to make everything about klaus, but the show we just opened at my theatre is a jukebox musical with 70s cambodian surf rock/psychedelic rock and unironically.......this is 100% the kinda music klaus listens to

[thxnks4themrms]

I just realized I never properly made an intro for myself so under the cut is where you can find it :)

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

Hi! Since I can't come up with a nickname for myself right now you can kinda just call me Vampy because I can't really think of anything else rn. Anyways, to make things easier I'll just write most of the basic stuff in bullet points :)

I���m Cambodian (Asian)

I use she/her and they/them pronouns

My favorite colors are pink and black

I’m an INFJ

I’m a Sagittarius

I love music - metal and rock to be specific

I like reading

I love horror movies

I enjoy things like taxidermy and bones

I’m bi and polyamorous

I’m Buddhist

I’m 14 😋😋

I literally have the best lovers ever <33

I love you Mikey Way

Bands / Artist I listen To The Most <3

My Chemical Romance - and their side projects

Fall Out Boy

Paramore

Pre-split Panic! At The Disco

Arctic Monkeys

The Last Shadow Puppets

Mitski

Lana Del Rey

Korn

Slipknot

Limp Bizkit

Blink - 182

Dazey And The Scouts

Weezer

Pierce The Veil

Radiohead

The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smiths

The Cure

Këkht Aräkh

The Neighborhood

TV Girl

Waterparks

Mötley Crüe

Queen

Nirvana

The Offspring

6arelyhuman

KMFDM

Thin Ice <\3 (PLEASE DONT BE MAD IM SORRY)

Swifties

Harry Styles fans

Billie Eilish fans

Wet leg fans

DNI <\3

Homophobes

Racist

Transphobes

Ppl who fetishize homosexuality

Ppl who fetishize Asians

Rcta

Rude ppl in general

Ppl who force their religion on others

Ppl who have stuff to say about politics (this is mainly a music blog :’) plz don’t bring heavy/sensitive topics into this)

Animal haters

MANIA AND DANGER DAYS HATERS

2019 GERARD HATERS

LANA AFTER HER CHANGES HATERS

RAY TORO HATERS

People who listen / support nsbm

WAYCEST/PROSHIPPERS GET THE FUCK OUT YOU ARE NOT WELCOMED

People who are siding with Melanie Martinez and not hearing both sides of the Mel/timothy sa situation

Ppl in the tcc community you all need to shower cause it STANK

People of any age can’t interact with me I don’t mind at all :))

WARNINGS

This blog will contain things that some people may find disturbing or uncomfortable. Things under this could include:

Blood/gore

Images of cemeteries/graveyards

Eerie/dark images in general

I do post a lot of shit sometimes that mention things about sex, substances, and a lot of other things I DONT recommend / encourage minors use - when I say stuff that mentions stuff like that im joking pls don’t take it seriously 😭😭😭

If you don’t like these things please don’t get upset! I’ll try my best to add tw for the things listed above. If you spot anything on my blog that you think might need a tw then feel free to dm me or put it in my inbox :)

Just so you know

This blog isn’t my main blog this is actually my side blog - my main is @tousyposay so don’t be kinda weirded out by that :p

@blxxdbxgs - a place where i simp over nurse Gerard

MY SOCIALLLLSSSS

TikTok - edgelordbolos

Insta - thxnks4themrmrs_rwar

Discord - vxmpywllnvrhrtu

Airbuds - sophalbolos

Man I can’t think of any other of my blogs ☠️☠️☠️ I’ll add them when I remember

Sorry if I upset any of you guys I really hope I didn’t mean to :(

Anyways that’s all I have to say for rn but thanks so much! I’ll be adding more to this as the days go on but for now thanks :)

Have a good day/night I love you guys so much! <3

-Vampy

[bookwyrminspiration]

bc wikipedia says cambodia was the last independent country to have color film (quote unquote in the 80s) but they HAD color film. they had it in the 60s, before the khmer rouge destroyed all the copies they could (although not all of them, bc be real) because it was a western invention. and i knew this vaguely because my mom had told me about all the colors and how beautiful it was, but like to SEE it realized. to look at their faces and realize that they were alive and i may not look like them but they could have been the people surrounding me. to see this silly classic romance movie clip or this little thing from another movie..... just THE LIFE. THERE WAS LIFE BEFORE IT ALL. and fuck it was so beautiful quil, they were all so beautiful, it was all just people. and there was the rock movement in the 70s inspired by elvis and bowie and all the classic rock greats that is also EXACTLY ITS OWN that u can find in bands like dengue fever and cambodian space project and i just found a documentary about the rock and roll in that era that i've been looking for since like 2021... just. and like. i was melancholy about it for a minute beause look at all these things i did not get to have but then also on the flip side now i get to learn about them and see all this joy and hold my own culture growing up in this specific place in america with these communities and it's just all this beautiful interconnectedness of culture and history and people being people. i will cry if i think about the movies more though.

Yeah! Like you can know something, but sometimes it doesn't really sink in or you don't fully process it. And then something makes you reflect on it and you become so so aware of just. humanity. and everything in the world

those people in the clips were real people. having fun, laughing, playing in the water. it's proof you can watch of the joy and life before the khmer rouge. the specific details of life and what they choose to include, to immortalize as best they can when they have the option

it's easy to feel isolated, I think? from the language, from the history, from the reality of it all. at least for me it is, at times. and its things like this that remind you that even as warped and twisted and things might've become, even though we can't go back and we're so different now, there's a connection there. you're connected to it, no matter how small

and there's so many feelings that come with that! the grief of seeing how much has been lost, how much has had to change, but the comfort and connection of rediscovery and what's still there. everything is so connected it's wild to think about and try to conceptualize the intersection of it all

[eggtqrt]

OH HOLD UP. idk if this is your style either but there's this musical called cambodian rock band and the soundtrack is much more,?,?? idk how to explain but it's a musical! it vibes! it's in khmer style but also really fun to listen to in general! and some of the songs are covers from ros sereysothea (famous khmer singer from the 60s-70s before yk) and dengue fever which is also so cool. there aren't any full performances of it online though which SUCKS bc the story sounds so cool??

OMG A MUSICAL???? I am a big musical person how did you know HFHSHFHSHF ill definitely check it out!!!!!

[disco-cola]

5 forgotten songs from the 70s everyone should know about (in my humble opinion)

🎸 i'm a man (1973) - jobriath - now handled as the "first openly gay musician ever" he was supposed to become as big as ziggy stardust in the early 70s and "americas bowie" but was dropped by his label after minor success; the smiths' morrissey later found his music by chance and desperately looked for him in the early 90s because he wanted him to join his tour, only to find out he d*ed lonely by himself at the chelsea hotel in 1983 from aids-related complications.

🎸 chnam oun dop-pram muy (circa 1974) - ros serey sothea - cambodian singer who was heavily influenced by american and british rock of the 60s and early 70s and combined classical cambodian singing with heavy garage rock. when civil war broke out due to the khmer republic she became a paratrooper to fight for her country but was apparently k*lled in action and never found again.

🎸 bustin' out for rosey (1976) - tommy bolin - a promising young guitarist who was part of deep purple and james gang before going solo. he was on tour with jeff beck when he od'd in late 1976 at only 25.

🎸 theme from subway sue (1975) - pavlov's dog - this song and album and band in general might be somewhat known in the depths of the prog rock scene but imo doesn't get the recognition it deserves in the classic rock world. david surkamp's extremely distinguished voice is like nothing i ever heard before. also check out the song julia please. the band still exists with david on lead vocals and still plays shows sometimes.

🎸 love and a molotov cocktail (1978)- the flys - that song is just so quintessentially british punk that it's hard to believe it isn't up there with london calling and anarchy in the uk. they were handled as an insider's tip and believed to become hitmakers but broke up just three years after their formation after having a big fight during a rehearsal.

[someoneiwasnt]

OH!!! HI!! incredibly random but i was looking through the tags for cambodian rock band and saw your reblog to enbies-and-felonies' and my conversation about it and ah!!! I still haven't gotten to see it (they haven't been doing shows anywhere nearby) but I do hold a special love in my heart for it, even if I don't know the story, both bc of the music being beautiful and then the cultural aspect of it (I am Cambodian diaspora!). anyway I just wanted to tell you I saw your reblog and that that's really really cool!!! and hope you have a lovely day haha 💚

hi!! :)) funny that you send this now bc i've actually been thinking about it more lately bc a theatre company near me is doing it this fall, i am so very excited to see it again and i hope you get to some day! and thank you, i hope you have a lovely day too 💜💜

[dustedmagazine]

Immaterial Possession — Mercy of the Crane Folk (Fire)

Photo by Carolyn Schew

Mercy of the Crane Folk by immaterial possession

Immaterial Possession makes giddy art punk with an exotic undertow. Here 1960s Cambodian rock swagger collides with careening casbah choruses, a surf rocking bassline underpins intoxicating runs of hippie flute. If you’ve ever wondered what the B-52s might sound like on a serious Incredible String Band bender, well, possibly a lot like Mercy of the Crane Folk.

That B-52s nod may tip you off that this is an Athens, Georgia pack of eccentrics. The two principals—bass player Cooper Holmes and singer Madeline Polites—met at a DIY art commune. Kiran Fernandes, who plays keyboards, clarinets and flutes, is the son of John Fernandes, who was in two foundational Elephant Six bands, Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System. Multi-layered, ethnic-accented percussion comes from regular drummer John Spiegel on most tracks and Jon Vogt on a couple of them.

The disc starts in the glorious, headlong rush of “Chain Breaker,” where Polites alternately wails and flutters, her voice an untrammeled joy as it caroms over a sinuous, not-exactly-Western melody. A clarinet erupts in Middle Eastern flourishes. The drums clatter and clash. And under it all, Holmes bass bucks and rears, bounding up and down the scale at an exuberant, agile gallop.

Polites is apparently fascinated by alternate scales, specifically the modal ones in use in traditional Greek and Spanish music.  Thus her melodies—and the accompaniment in flute and clarinet—have a shadowy, minor key slant to them which contrasts in interesting ways with excitable positivity of her voice. The foreign-ness of the melodic structure fits more neatly than you might think with the surfy bravado of guitar and bass; remember Dick Dale’s big hit “Misirlou” had Greek and Arabic origins.

It all makes for a volatile and rather thrilling mix, especially on the quicker, more propulsive tracks. The title cut thunders like a herd of wild horses, the bass notes pounding like hooves on sound, while the verses zoom and wheel overhead in crazy abandon. Spooky female “whoo-oohs” waft over intricate figures of belly dancing guitar. There’s some sort of mythology at work, perhaps; we don’t really know who the crane folk might be or what they want, but the lyrics add another layer of magic.

You could listen to underground rock and punk all year and not hear anything remotely like Mercy of the Crane Folk. Its elements—surf, Middle-eastern music, freak folk and punk—are not so rare, but they they’re put together is. You might check out Immaterial Possession for the wild, weird juxtapositions it offers, but you stay because it works so well.  

Jennifer Kelly

[metalhead-brainrot]

So the Cambodian psychedelic rock band is called Dengue Fever, a blend of 60s British psych with Khmer folk music. Here's my favorite album of theirs.

I appreciate OP educating others about music around the world, but to say that "Cambodia got really into Psychedelic Rock" is not the whole story. In the 1960s, the pop rock of the West was very influential in the Cambodian music scene, and you had artists like Ros Serey Sothea who got famous for blending Western rock with Khmer folk music. Similar music scenes existed in other nations; somewhat famously Iran and Afghanistan had lots of syncretic culture with the West.

This cultural interchange ended abruptly in Cambodia with the rise of the Khmer Rouge, a violent and autocratic Communist state. Because they weaponized Khmer nationalism, the Khmer Rouge looked down on influences from other cultures particularly those from political opponents in the Cold War (i.e. U.K. and U.S.A.). Much of the once-popular music was destroyed (those few tapes that remained are now valuable collector items), along with the artists themselves. I won't discuss in details the rumors of Sothea's disappearance, they can be found in the Wikipedia article I linked above. Like many other victims of Pol Pot's regime, the only known truth is that she is yet another desaparecida.

It's no accident that Dengue Fever combines 60s psych rock with Cambodian folk vocals; it's a love letter to a bygone past, a music scene that was incredibly influential and then ripped from world culture.

I recommend listening to the surviving recordings of Ros Sereysothea's work, especially if you enjoy Dengue Fever. Interestingly enough, one of Sothea's tracks is immortalized as the sample to the track Books of War by OMEGAH RED, featuring MF DOOM and RZA, some of my favorite rappers.

Every once in a while a new music genre gets invented and people from all different countries are like this slaps we got to start doing that and combine it with our own music styles and that's beautiful

[popblank]

Facing a significant budget shortfall, Center Theatre Group on Thursday announced that it would lay off about 10% of its full-time staff and pause season programming at the Mark Taper Forum after “Transparent” concludes its run on June 25. The pause is expected to continue through the 2023-24 season, but there is no confirmed end date yet.

Regrettably, we also need to cancel the previously announced tour of Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee and directed by Chay Yew. 

:(

[flibbertygigget]

The Theatre Post

Of all the theatre I've seen since like 2016. Please ignore this, it's for my own memory and i'll be constantly updating it

2016/maybe pre-2016 idr:

Hamlet (p)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (p)

The Book of Mormon (m, Touring Cast)

The Two Kids That Blow Shit Up (p)

Ragtime (m)

Barbecue (p)

Jitney (p)

Perecles (p)

Marisol (p)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (p, Touring Cast)

God's Ear (p)

2017:

The Kitchen (p)

Electra (p)

And (p, One-Act)

Godot Has Come (p, Japanese Touring Cast)

2018:

Bone Chiller (p)

Hamilton (m, Chicago)

The Miracle Worker (p)

Frankenstein - Playing with Fire (p)

A Prelude to Faust (p)

Home (p, One-Act)

Spring Awakening (m)

Twelfth Night (p)

2019:

Falsettos (m, Touring Cast)

Pippin (m)

Candide (m)

Metamorphoses (p)

Hello, Dolly! (m, Touring Cast)

Oklahoma! (m, Broadway)

Hadestown (m, Broadway)

Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (m, Off-Broadway)

The Ferryman (p, Broadway)

Burn This (p, Broadway)

Tootsie (m, Broadway)

What the Constitution Means to Me (p, Broadway)

Caught (p)

Sea Cabinet (m)

To Let Go And Fall (p)

Jefferson Township Sparkling Junior Talent Pageant (m)

The Rocky Horror Show (m)

Aubergine (p)

AMP (p, One-Act)

Frankenstein (p, One-Act)

2020:

Noura (p)

A.I.M. (d)

The Niceties (p, Livestream)

The Haunting of Lin Manuel Miranda (p, Livestream)

2021:

It's an Honorable Life (p)

A Murder is Announced (p)

2022:

La Boheme (m)

Redwood (p)

Monster Heart (p)

The Tempest (p)

A Raisin in the Sun (p)

Emma (p)

Cambodian Rock Band (m)

Sweat (p)

Merrily We Roll Along (m)

Doubt (p)

Victor Invictus (p, One-Act)

All Your White Darlings (p, One-Act)

Dead Mountain (p, One-Act)

Edgar Perry (p, One-Act)

2023 (was not a good year for theatre for me :/):

Next to Normal (m)

A Wrinkle in Time (p)

2024:

Purlie Victorious (p, Broadway)

Merrily We Roll Along (m, Broadway)

Here We Are (m, Off-Broadway)

Stones in His Pockets (p)

Sweeney Todd (m)

Richard II (p)

Henry IV (p)

Henry V (p)

Skeleton Crew (p)

The Spitfire Grill (m)

English (p)

Little Shop of Horrors (m)

The Lehman Trilogy (p)

Scotland, PA (m)

Holmes/Poirot (p)

Noises Off (p, Chicago)

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (m, Chicago)

Evil Perfect (p, Chicago)

Assassins (m)

Pacific Overtures (m, LA)

Fiddler on the Roof (m, LA, Jason Alexander???)

[wayblaze]

in no particular order, my top 10 favorite albums of all time:

1) turn on the bright lights - interpol (2002)

so yes I did just say in no particular order but this is absolutely my #1 favorite album of all time. this is just a masterfully constructed album, the flow from song to song is seamless in a vibes sense, and it's definitely better than the sum of its songs when listened to in order. honestly couldn't tell you what the album is about, bc I really think this is a sonic success more than anything else. interpol did not really receive widespread fame and acclaim the way similar bands of the era did, but this album has huge critical success nonetheless. it's really just a masterclass in writing a cohesive and exceptional album

2) yoshimi battles the pink robots - the flaming lips (2002)

now actually starting the no particular order, this awesome concepty-story album, coincidentally also from 2002. so I generally think it's true that a good album is better when it's listened to in order, but compared to the interpol album, I feel like each song on ybtpr stands alone a lot better. not to say the story of yoshimi and the pink robots isn't a good one, but each individual piece of music is also really good. the robot sounds and other effects in this one make it a really fun listen as well

3) the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars - David Bowie (1972)

first off it is truly impossible to make a top 10 music list and not include David Bowie. this one I think beats out his other masterpieces because he's truly nailed the rise and fall. even just the opening song, five years, has such a great build that mirrors the whole album. it makes listening to Ziggy an immersive experience in a way that few artists can do

4) people who can eat people are the luckiest people in the world - ajj (2007)

moving away from rock albums, this is probably a controversial take but I think this is the best folk punk album out there. while it doesn't make the political and social statements that later ajj albums do, I think ajj's take on the world and what we owe the people around us and the importance of radical compassion is so beautiful. nothing makes me have more faith in my fellow man <3

5) in the aeroplane over the sea - neutral milk hotel (1998)

moving right back into non-controversial takes, up next is neutral milk hotels most famous and well loved album. this one is just an experience to listen to. absolutely insane lyrics and bizarre and discordant melodies make this one stand out to me as my favorite weird album. another band that has just nailed the album is better in order thing, especially with the way some songs will flow into each other

6) dengue fever presents electric cambodia - dengue fever, sinn sisamouth, ros serey sothea, pan ron (2010)

okay so this first off I think it's really important to clarify that dengue fever has remastered and compiled songs that were likely not to get any widespread reach, but the actual writer and singers of these are sinn sisamouth, ros serey sothea, and pan ron. sinn sisamouth was of the most prolific and successful singer-songwriters in cambodia in the 60s and 70s. he was pioneering an incredible blend of traditional cambodian sounds with the psychedelic rock music that was becoming very popular in the west for such an incredibly unique and beautiful sound. sinn sisamouth was killed during the cambodian genocide and between the khmer rouge efforts to keep cambodian works from spreading, writing non English songs, and just the passing of time, he never received the recognition and fame he deserved. this compilation barely scratches the surface, he wrote and recorded hundreds of songs that are getting released on Spotify genuinely monthly. absolutely check him out there's nothing else like it

7) funeral - arcade fire (2004)

this is an album that is definitely better listened to in order but omg are the songs themselves beautiful. I'm an especially big fan of neighborhood #1-4 and une annee sans lumiere. just beautiful piano and vocals but it still maintains the rock album vibe

8) hi this is flume (mixtape) - flume (2019)

moving starkly away from rock, up next is hi this is flume. I'm not nearly as big of an edm fan but this is just so fun to listen to. the songs all flow together in a way that feels like you're listening to a live dj, the featured artists are so awesome, and it just tickles my brain in such a good way

9) recomposed by max richter: vivaldi the four seasons - max richter (2014)

so this is definitively classical music. it's absolutely still recognizable as Vivaldi's four seasons but max richters spin is really what makes a classical album make the top 10. not only does he modernize the composition while still maintaining the source materials story and emotions, but the way he uses synthesizers and even like recordings of ambient noise it's just really cool and unique.

10) canyon candy - javelin (2011)

would be remiss not to include a country album but honestly this is way more an experimental conceptual album that happens to have a Western sound than anything. basically, the band found sound bites and snips from different and random vinyls and mixed all that together in the coolest sounding soundtracky western vibe. there's barely lyrics and it's only about 25 minutes long, but it really does manage to feel like a journey when you listen to it

[taiyona]

Weeks in the Womb

Thank you to Unmargin for originally publishing this piece. Bao Phi, love to you for your stewardship.

Weeks in the Womb

By Taiyo Na

Written for our first born child, who was in my partner Sarah’s belly for most of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s April. 20 weeks in your mother’s womb, when she and her sister take a walk through the neighborhood park, a man calls them “fckin chinks" and spits towards them. Such occasions mark your beginning.

The man’s hatred and delusion doesn’t notice the baby inside her, that there is life on top of life in her body, so if he had a knife or acid to throw like some other lost souls in this city, he would have ripped you open or burned through twice the sanctity of my family. This marks your start.

10 weeks prior in the womb, we share momos and taro buns with Malaya who is visiting from San Jose. We talk Duterte, the plight of the people, Rapsody, D Smoke. We satiate the meal, talk about the 20 years between us. When he leaves, we hug. I clean the plates, notice purple crumbs that smile. 

10 weeks prior in the womb, your mother and I weep over the film Queen & Slim. We stand in the lobby of the theater, arms wrapped and sobbing, braced in the heartbreak of a fictional reality we know to be true. This is your first movie. 

8 weeks prior in the womb, Annie and Mas have their baby shower for your baby buddy Dash. This is your first party. 9 weeks prior in the womb, my old bandmate Takenori plays his Wes Montgomery fingers over his hollow body guitar at Tomi’s. I know you heard that reverb by the way you dance in the womb. This is your first concert. 

Our friend Abe plays drums, delivers lines and belts at the Signature Theatre like we’ve never seen him before, like audiences have never seen before. Cambodian Rock Band, this is your first play. 

At a Day of Remembrance at the JA Church, you and your mother love the inarizushi. You come from a long line of people who love inari, across seas through barbed wire fences. 

The Lakers went on a run in March, only to be stopped by Brooklyn. We are on the couch. Your father watches the games on the TV while your mother naps. We rest while caressing you over your mother’s belly. These warm hands, your first blanket. 

20 weeks in the womb, we are alive during a genocide through federal neglect. Over 10,000 dead, and no sign of the number slowing down. From Queens to Brooklyn, Detroit to Chicago, New Orleans to Newark, there aren’t enough beds, ventilators, masks, gloves, scrubs, care, compassion, generosity to adequately deal with this pandemic.

20 weeks in the womb, those nurses, doctors, grocery store clerks, farmers, delivery folks on the frontlines continue to go to work. Their courage moves us. Your uncle, the baker, lost his job, like millions of other people in this country. He, like all of them, did not deserve this. He's still baking though, making tutorials online. He makes a dough as tender and beautiful as his heart. His bread is waiting for you. Your mother persists, too, holds space for her team. Your father holds space for his students. As best we can in virtual spaces. 

20 weeks in the womb, the earth is reshaping itself. We are breathing in an age where there is a shortage of breaths. You take your breaths amidst water, through a cord to your mother, underneath the cocoon of a belly, soft like milk bread.

21 weeks in, your mother starts experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, brief cramps that are said to prepare her body for your birth. Nature, true to her programming, invites us into signals of what is to come before it is fully present. 

The deaths keep ballooning. Public school staff. MTA staff. Folks in prison. 

Arundhati Roy once spoke about the era of New Genocide, a byproduct of globalization. New Genocide occurs when human imposed conditions lead to mass death without people actually going out and killing other people. An example would be economic sanctions against Iraq when in ‘97 and ‘98 US sanctions on Iraq claimed more than half a million children's lives. New Genocide is created when there is a purposeful withholding of necessary resources for a population.

You are in the womb during a New Genocide. Its capital is the city of your father’s birth. Your parents’ friends and colleagues are losing their fathers, mothers, friends, grandparents. These are swift, pummeling deaths. Cleaved lungs and vocal cords, like Eric Garner, say their names: they can’t breathe. 

By the end of May, we know the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and more. Something cracks open. The streets flood with protestors. Statues fall, statements and more statements fly. Former students lead the way while we quarantine with your mother. A tipping point, a rebellion and reckoning in response to double pandemics. Black/American Spring. This birthed here right before you. 

30 weeks in the womb, your mother and I decide a name for you: Jayu. In Korean, it means freedom. Free. Both noun and adjective. You are jayu, can be jayu, feel jayu. May you know what this year means, this moment, and may it be in our mother's tongues. 

At 36 weeks, we welcome a monstera deliciosa to add to our plant family. The “swiss cheese" plant grows holes in her adult leaves so light cascades to the smaller leaves below. What holes will we grow to let love shine through to our young? What do we let go to give space for?

Week 41. Contractions accelerate. Muscles tighten and release in the rhythm of a storm. Divinely dangerous, the labor which begets all labor, the work that precedes all work. Rings of fire. 

Week 41, you're here. Jayu is late, is on time. Wednesday, August 26th. The Milwaukee Bucks, an NBA team goes on strike, the first time for any professional sports team to do so. The Sunday before, Wisconsin police hail seven bullets and paralyze a 29 year old Black father Jacob Blake in front of his children. At a protest in Kenosha, two protestors are shot to death. Other major sports athletes also act in solidarity with the Bucks. It's four years to the day when Kaepernick first kneels in a game. Freedom contracts. Freedom cascades. 

When you first slide out of your mother’s womb, you take a moment and realize you’re no longer in a world of amniotic fluid. You wail. Skin to skin with us soothes you. Your mother can’t believe how small you are--a miniature nose, feet, hands. To think we were all that tiny once, small bundles turning into tall things.

[seattlereddit]

1 FREE ticket for Cambodian Rock Band at ACT Theatre on Saturday November 4th

https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/17lrlw1/1_free_ticket_for_cambodian_rock_band_at_act/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[juiceman1979]

Weekend report July 21-23

Tgif enjoy the weekend. Enjoy whether u are going to the beach, mountains or pool. In dc there is the capital cringe festival, lotus water and Lilly festival. For those looking for the arts there is the play that goes wrong at the Kennedy center, Cambodian rock band at arena stage, Taylor party at 930 club, lion king at the Kennedy center, monster of American cinemas at atlas performing center,…

[andersonvision]

The rock sensation Dengue Fever, a unique fusion of Cambodian and American roots based in Los Angeles, has stirred the music world today with the announcement of their long-awaited album, "Ting Mong". Slated for release on September 15, 2023, this is the band's first collection of new material in over eight years. Fans can pre-order the album through the band's official website, or pre-save the album via this link. Setting the rhythm for the upcoming album, the first single and video titled "Touch Me Not" is now available on all major Digital Service Providers (DSPs) via their own label, Tuk Tuk Records. This is only the beginning; fans can look forward to three more singles and accompanying videos in the months leading up to the full album release. This new album also commemorates the 20th anniversary of their groundbreaking self-titled debut album from 2003. Dengue Fever bass player Senon Williams shared insights into their latest venture, "We initially imposed certain parameters while recording 'Ting Mong', but we eventually broke free from the shackles of our past albums. Our key focus was to let Chhom Nimol’s captivating voice take flight. The ambiance of the world today inspired us to delve into the sublime and melancholic tones, purposely leaving behind the chaos and frenzy." 'Ting Mong' is Dengue Fever's sixth album and refers to a concept from Khmer folklore. A Ting Mong is essentially a scarecrow, a decoy used to fend off evil spirits and plagues. The band crafted this album after a self-imposed hiatus coupled with the global pandemic, giving them ample time to flesh out tracks, resulting in slower, more psychedelic jams. The captivating album artwork is by renowned Japanese comic book and Anime/manga artist Imiri Sakabashira. Even though the band hasn't released new material since their 2015 album, 'The Deepest Lake', they've remained active. They've reissued their entire back catalog on vinyl and CD over the past years and collaborated with Minky Records for the first vinyl release of their 2007 documentary's soundtrack, 'Sleepwalking Through The Mekong'. They've also made waves with their music being licensed for commercials, films, television, and live performances for Lauren Yee’s theatrical production, 'Cambodian Rock Band'. Kickstarting 2023, the band performed at the GlobalFEST music festival in New York and have played a string of Southern California dates, building anticipation for the new album. They are set to headline live shows across North America and internationally, continuing into 2024. Tour dates will be released shortly. Tuk Tuk Records is distributed through MRI/The Orchard in North America and Proper Music Group worldwide. Learn more about Dengue Fever Boasting a multicultural lineup, Dengue Fever consists of Cambodian songstress Chhom Nimol, Zac Holtzman (guitar/vocals), Ethan Holtzman (keyboards), Senon Williams (bass), Paul Smith (drums), and David Ralicke (horns). They have released multiple acclaimed albums, including 'Dengue Fever', 'Escape From Dragon House', 'Venus On Earth', 'Cannibal Courtship', 'In The Ley Lines', and 'The Deepest Lake'. Their upcoming album 'Ting Mong' will be available on September 15, 2023. They are currently based in Los Angeles.